Balloon Fishing
by miss atari
Summary: Valentine's Day one-shot. "What's the balloon say?" Matt asked innocently,... Shonen-ai. Fluff. MattxMello. AU.


**i have the flu. ;_; but, this had to be posted because it has been eating at me for over a week now, and in honour of valentine's day, i decided why not. so, i basically spent all day working on this, with a seven hour nap inbetween and medication that seems to help a little. in any case, sickness aside, i hope you enjoy.**

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A black ribbon dangled from the ceiling, mocking him, swinging back and forth as he tried to retrieve the balloon that had caught his eyes, stuck on the ceiling and beckoning. It had failed to be captured, idly afloat in one spot.

Matt wondered how long the balloon had been up there, but gave up on that train of thought the moment he saw one of the store employees at his side. The girl held a second balloon in her hands, one that had 'over the hills' plastered along the front in yellow writing, one that wasn't quite as big as the metallic heart teasing Matt.

"Can I try?" He asked, perking a brow at the female teenager.

She looked at him oddly for several seconds, brows furrowed as she handed him the balloon. Smiling and silently thanking her, Matt wound his fingers around the brown ribbon on his balloon, emerald orbs settled on the offending red and pink blob above him.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Her voice was small, but intimidating.

"Not really," he confessed.

"Okay, uh… Let it go up, there's tape on the top of this one. If you angle it the right way you should be able to connect this one to that one," she explained, motioning for the red head to send the balloon straight into the air.

Matt complied, slowly letting the balloon go up towards the other one, wobbling as it moved with the air conditioner. The beam paralyzing the heart taunting him would be annoying, he concluded. It wouldn't move for him to catch the heart.

Staring up as both helium filled objects collided, the corners of his lips pulled upwards into a small smile. He'd caught the heart! Or so he hoped.

"Matt, what the fuck are you doing?" Came a voice from behind him, startling him so that he jolted slightly, losing hold on the heart shaped balloon.

"Fishing, Mel."

"Fishing?" The blonde asked, a brow arched as azure optics flittered between the ceiling and Matt. He'd seriously gone off the deep end, Mello decided.

"That's stupid," he voiced his opinion, fingering the wrapper on one of the chocolate bars he'd come to the store to obtain. Mello didn't like stupidity, but more so, he didn't like that he was being forced to wait for his precious chocolate.

"Come on, let's go."

"No, Mello. I want that balloon," the gamer pointed up to the heart, a shy smile crossing his lips as he did so. Shuffling to the side, he pulled his fishing instrument of choice along, brown meeting black, tangling upon contact. This gave the gamer an idea, and he looked over at Mello, who just huffed and ignored the excitement building.

"I think I got it, Mel!"

"That's not going to work, Matt." Mello shot him down, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Aw, Mello, don't be so negative." The red head stuck his tongue out, walking around in a circle in attempt to twist both strands together.

At first, the balloons seemed to work with him, meshing together as he gently tugged the one indirectly insulting elderly people down towards himself. Matt internally cheered, green eyes alight as he slowly pulled both balloons down.

"Hey, uh…" Mello's voice broke his concentration, and he looked at the blonde standing across from the invisible circle he'd created.

People crowded around the two, looking up at the obstacle Matt was being faced with. Could he pull this off? His balloon lacked in size, the round horizon of the 'over the hills' balloon couldn't stand a chance against the other. It was like a game of pokemon-- Pikachu pinned up against Onyx, electric type couldn't beat the earth type unless water was involved. Matt would lose!

"What is it?" Matt asked his cohort, still softly pulling both balloons down, eyes flickering between the discontent face of Mello and the unraveling ribbons above his head.

"That's not going to work," he stated, pointing at the ribbons as the separated, the heart flying back towards the ceiling, lodging under the beam that had previously been mocking the gamer. Would he ever get a break?

"What the fuck?!" Irritation was obvious in his voice as he pulled his tool down, wrapping his arms around it, nails digging into the shiny object. He wanted to pop it, wanted to let it know who the boss was. Matt huffed, releasing the balloon and dropping his hands down to his sides, the balloon following behind him; it would take more for him to get upset.

"Try a bigger one, Matt."

Was Mello really suggesting a bigger one? Was Mello actually rooting for him? Did the blonde want Matt to get the balloon for his sake, or did he just want him to hurry up so he could indulge himself in the chocolate cradled in his arms?

"Okay," he nodded at Mello, handing the annoying balloon that he'd originally been using back to the girl working in the floral department, a hand extended outwards, forefinger pointing at a similar balloon to the one hiding from Matt.

"You have any tape?" Matt asked, looking for a matching coil of ribbon for the pink that cascaded from the heart identical to the one he wanted to possess. This hunt was fruitless, but he did manage to get tape. Matt positioned the tape on both curves, pushing down on it lightly as he walked back over to Mello and crowd that had formed at the commencement of his fishing trip.

"Will this do?" He rolled his head to side, green locking on blue as he searched for any sign of approval. Mello exhaled softly and nodded, golden locks bobbing against the side of his face as he inched closer to the gamer, looking up in anticipation. Mello showed signs of interest as the red head sent the balloon into the air.

"Matt, move over." He instructed, pushing Matt gently to the side, pink and black lacing together as both balloons touched. The triangular bottom of the heart teasing Matt stuck perfectly against the sticky curves on the metallic heart he laid claim on.

Why hadn't he just decided to buy a heart that didn't involve so much work? There were more of them, but this one in particular had caught his eye. He hadn't paid much attention to the words on the heart, written across it in silver gothic scripture. Despite this obvious lapse in his intelligence, Matt went to work at fishing the one he desired.

"I got, Mello! I got it!" Matt cheered happily, pulling on the pink ribbon, one arm stretched upwards, fingers wriggling around aimlessly.

"Mel, I need you to grab the black one," he told him, eyeing a reluctant Mello.

The chocoholic nodded, leaning his body against the gamer as he pushed himself up on his toes, one arm reaching up towards the lowering black ribbon; his other hand squeezing Matt's arm as he concentrated on gripping the obsidian strand. The moment the ribbon brushed against his fingers, Mello could have sworn he heard the crowd cheering. Curling slender digits into the palm of his hand, he tugged the balloon down, shoving it into Matt's face.

"Yes!" The red head cheered, a brilliant smile screwing up his once determined facial expression. Matt tightly held onto the heart, cradling it under his arm, close to his side as he returned the one with the pink string.

"Hey, Mel?"

"What?"

"What's the balloon say?" Matt asked innocently, blinking as the blonde turned to look at the inflated material covering Matt's black and white stripped chest.

"I love you," Mello murmured softly.

As the words crossed his teeth and jumped over his lips, Matt wound the black cable around his hand, he looked at Mello, eyes wide with faux surprise. The gaming addict, without thinking, wrapped his lanky arms around Mello, crashing their lips together in front of the group of people that had slowly started to disperse. The valentine balloon hovered above them, as if pointing down, directing all eyes to gaze at the two boys as they shared their first real kiss. A kiss that was surely not meant to be their last.

"Hey, Mello." Matt whispered breathlessly, his forehead pressed against Mello's, arms tightly holding the other close.

"What?"

"I love you too," his words sent blood directly to the chocolate addict's cheeks, and something that never took place, happened-- Mello blushed red, not the normal standard pink that he usually saw on Matt's cheeks. No, his face flushed red.

"Matt, you planned this, didn't you?" Mello accused as Matt turned the car on.

"I did not," he lied through his teeth. Of course he'd planned this, he'd taken the liberty to make their first valentine's day memorable. Matt was, when he wanted to be, a very sentimental person.

"You're lying, Matt." The blonde grinned wryly.

"And, what if I am?" He teased.

"Liars get punished, Matt. I hope you know that."

"Oh?" Matt lolled his head against the rest on his seat, eyes locked on Mello, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

He was an odd one, Mello knew, but he was his, and that's all that mattered.

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**a little light hearted one shot for you guys, and before anyone asks-- the balloon fishing idea came from our boredom at work. this actually happened, minus the whole love confession thing. on that note, i'm sorry this is a bit shitty compared to everything else, but.. i'm sick, and this is all i could muster up. anyways, R&R plx. i might get better faster if you do. ;D**

**no flaming, thanks.**


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